logboy

don't think NIMH Rat is refering to the idea of asian youth affecting the license choices western companies make, but instead to the idea that western distributors can only pick from what asia makes for their youth market. problem is, this suggests that western labels marketing to a primarily crossover audience has affected what western people believe is being made in asia - as though it's actually an effective and complete picture that's being covered by a handful of films making it across borders, rather than simply a carefully selected and manipulated part of the market that will easily fit a narrow perception they hope will succeed. and i guess it has succeeded.

japan, for example, currently turns out 4-500 films a year. i'd guess that, even at the peak of the DVD era, around 30-50 would be as many as you could expect to make it in a subtitled dvd release somewhere in the west, or in HK, korea, thailand, taiwan, malaysia too, as well as the primary licensee of asian films - the usa - and the uk too.

Brian T

I didn't take his comment that way. But what is popular in Asia -- and therefore popularized by its audiences (which may skew younger, just as they do here) -- doesn't always get distributed over here, unless it has those familiar old exploitable elements (in a word, action). I'm not saying every top box-office hit from Asia deserves an American or European theatrical or DVD release, but I do find it tiresome that movies that fit within a very narrow subset of genres -- no matter how awesome they may be -- are almost inevitably released on DVD in North America. Basically, action movies. Anything else is largely ignored, unless it garners some fest cred. Fine enough, I guess. We've been treated to some great ones over the years, but we've also been denied a lot. Well, people who can't import are denied a lot . . .



This is precisely my point, perhaps more succinctly put. Let's face it, the fact that this approach has succeeded is a mixed blessing, even though it has brought us some fascinating cinema . . .



And most of those 30-50 titles could probably be filed under fewer genres than you could count on one hand.

Frankly, with DVD going the way of the dodo, and Blu-ray too eventually, I'm hoping that streaming/downloading will eventually open up the floodgates so that newer fans in the west can access Asian entertainment from all genres and see what they've been missing thanks to the (barely understandabe) narrow presets of American and European distributors, who've too long shaped the perception that Asia produces almost nothing but films in a handful of easily exploited genres.

logboy

it's funny that, as someone old enough to remember what it was like before DVD, these habits that western distributors have are actually very long-standing, and that an awful lot of people in the west think they're being distinctly alternative in their choices, but they're in fact ultimately victims of their own lack of individuality being a good basis for the kind of manipulation in how asian films are represented in the first place - problem is, there's little to no realisation (or desire to realise) and connection to the more sincere angle. the cycle is not broken as a result.

basically, i'd guess that, as with all potentially alternative choices that also have an easy angle by which to approach it, it tends to attract people more determined to try and exploit the potential the hobby appears to offer in terms of easy rebelious overtones to their social status. in other words, there must be some chicks out there that like film geeks, so i'll go to the local rental store and keep picking up the latest obvious asian action movies and let my friends know i've got my finger on that particular pulse : it'll get me laid one day, hopefully.

sense this is a lot of people's thinking.

i used to get incredibly frustrated, perhaps five or years ago, when dvd looked like it was breaking open the floodgates to a much broader range of films from japan, but no company then seemed to have the balls, power, money or sincerity in their interest to work towards a better day. just looking for a quick buck, making lazy choices, living the high life for now, and probably regretting it at their leisure, if they ever realise they missed out on a prime chance to set a decent long-term vision in place.

NIMH Rat

Isn't it more of a slow buck? First the film has to get made, and it is made by people over whom the distributor has zero creative control, then it has to be made available for export, the rights holder in Asia holds all the cards, the Western importer has to decide what has a chance to earn a profit in America or Europe after you've paid off the rights holders, gotten a master for copying, hired a translator, encoded the product, advertised it, manufactured it, and put it out there at $15 minimum per. By the time it arrives on the shelf, if it's worth anything, the rabid Asian film fan not only already knows about it, probably already seen it, but already imported a copy or downloaded a bootleg torrent.

So you have to leap over the hurdles of rights negotiation, production and manufacturing, advertising, getting shelf space, the maniacs who already bought the thing and MIGHT buy this if you filled it up with extras, which also cost money....

Look at Love Exposure. Doesn't fit the usual mold. Came out quite a while ago and only now is it getting a theatrical run in L.A. Maybe a DVD later this year.

This is why those Japanese splatter movies are co-produced by an American company. That cuts through a few of the barriers right away.

But I agree that once physical media take a dive, things will probably improve.

logboy

the idea of a quick buck isn't about the whole process, the process that involves many people, a good length of time and a whole heap of cash. i'm thinking more of the companies like tartan that, as i've heard, were licensing films from japan and korea simply on the basis of having seen trailers, with the hope their marketing, designs and banner 'tartan extreme' label would convince people the films were easily generalised and were to be perceived in an overall manner which only ever really had an easy-sell at it's heart. ultimately, it was it's downfall, but there was an indicator in that one company that highlighted similar lower-level activity from small american companies who didn't seem to have as much genuine interest as they could have - but simply saw films being placed onto dvd as good rental store fodder for incredibly casual audiences that were never likely to feel the need to discover the reality of where the films original intention lay. we're going to be feeling the effects of that cycle of lazy choices from both sides for many years to come, i think.

the barrier that co-production break down are the longer-term challenges that would have seen films that weren't made for export gather a gradual and sincere interest, and i think they're a gateway in some respects, but one that can't guarantee a more substantial or intricate dedicated or substantial knowledge from a widespread audience being built in time. it's aim is a short-term philosophy of throwaway culture for an age group that doesn't think throw-away cultures and interests are a bad thing.

NIMH Rat

I'm not sure what you mean by "original intention." You mean a film that's marketed as horror or whatever but is actually a harmless ghost story, or a suspense thriller, or a family drama? Tartan did try to sell some things as EXTREME that were actually nothing of the kind, except maybe extremely boring. But that's the video marketplace.....buyer beware.

Or do you mean a film that has "deep roots in Asian culture" or whatever, that Western marketers don't really feel the need to explain to their customers? Well, there are products out there called fansubs that try to explain "Asian culture" to audiences in a blizzard of explanatory subtitles so we know in a scene that Ken-kun is actually Akira-san's kohai, and that thing hanging from the ceiling is for cooking fish, and that the story is a twist on a 4th century legend, etc. etc.

That might be fun for people in academic area studies but everyone else just wants to watch a movie that has a story and characters they can relate to. The fact is that Asian films just don't travel well outside of Asia, and that's nobody's fault. Those countries don't have the budgets, the distribution channels, or the advantage of producing in English, like Hollywood does. A Western marketer of Asian films can try all he/she wants, but that's not going to change.

logboy

buyer beware? well, yes, but how do you become aware of what Asian cinema is or how to understand what you'll get, especially if you're casually picking things in first sight in rental stores? that's tge biggest market company's sell to, the one they feel least responsibility towards, & the one that persuades them the already-converted aren't to be listened to particularly.

as for understanding cultural elements, I think it's something that's possible to accumulate when watching films with an open mind, rather than watching them with the prejudice that lazy attitudes, manipulated perspectives & general fanboyism that seems far too commonplace.

I'm not advocating or suggesting full-on academic appreciation, but I do suggest more determination & responsibility from companies & consumers will collectively make an awful lot of difference. academia isn't an on-off switch, but instead more of an attitude that can be gradually applied, & only need be slightly in place to have some positive affect. problem is also that "academic" is a word that suggests hard, dull work ; shame that lots of people never found pleasure in learning, but it doesn't mean it isn't there, doesn't mean it's always hard, doesn't mean it's not actually just a necessary attitude to apply to life that becomes a part of life no matter if you're in academic environments or studying formally.

don't agree with the idea of simply watching films mindlessly, there's always some thought processes involved or you wouldn't get from one moment to tge next, & we certainly wouldn't have any attitudes, interests, values or tastes in place anywhere. and that's clearly not the case.

the thing which costs no money, but which have the biggest impact, are tge things that need to change : we need realistic attitudes from both companies and viewers. there are enough examples, however few, to support the possibility / concept, but they're dominated out of the bigger picture by a flurry of short-term potential exploiters and incredibly naive short-sighted viewers.

NIMH Rat

This is something I've thought about....what can you really absorb about a culture of origin just by watching its movies? The part where you talk about "mindless" watching, though, I think I might be misinterpreting. I think it's a pure numbers game. A viewer just has to get as much access to as much stuff as possible, and let it play. Much of this activity will be "mindless" in the sense that you can't discriminate.

I don't think you can really learn a culture through movies. They aren't that transparent. If you really want to learn about Asian culture, go live in Asia. If you want to see great movies from Asia, well, there are a lot of ways to find out what they are and how to get them, either by importing or renting or going to festivals.

In the end, it's stories and characters we want, not "culture." And films with good stories and characters are few and far between in ANY culture.

logboy

the point isn't so much that you can learn about culture through watching films, it's more that it's seems logical to suggest it's possible to some extent because it can't be the case that nothing is there to be had, as though it can't be noticed, when clearly if you weren't noticing differences then why would you have found your way there? a lot of people would love to think they can justify their attitudes towards film remaining on a seemingly permanent lower-level by denying the chances of it because it's a convenient argument to avoid being held to account for the negative aspects of their viewing habits and it helps them to convince themselves the best priority is a kind of pure fun that can still be had that most of us only remember from the childhood innocence of incredibly simple requirements and dramatic, obvious reactions to our experiences. of course it's perfectly plausible to find people at an adult age with child-like sensibilities to their entertainment, hobbies, interests, pleasures, but because some are like that doesn't account for how dramatically different an adult life actually is for most people, by comparison to their lives as a child.

yes, you will learn more from living within a culture, but if you're taking in the film as you're watching it, you're adding to your ability to discern what suits you and what seems to work best on the whole (in your own opinion) and you will see progress made, changes happening over time, different things being of interest, as a result of having absorbed information over that journey, as well as the life you've experienced overall. that is, i can see i've absorbed information about the films i've watched because what i would have watched a year or two back i wouldn't now touch. as a result i can see the reward that will be had over time, a continual shift in what i experience, keeping things fresh and interesting. not necessarily useful in trying to manipulate anyone's view of me, but stimulating to me personally - i can also sense a lot of people are trying to stick to easy interpretations of what they're watching because there's so much discussion around fandom for genres, styles, countries and other umbrella interests which don't manage to convey a sense of there being an acceptance of the detail within them as it either risks corrupting the chances of giving some kind of impression of their hobby, or it risks taking them away from similar ground to other people and allowing them to portray themselves as part of a crowd.

one thing i've noticed in recent years is that if people progress or alter their tastes on more individual terms, diversifying what's expected, they soon find their interest becoming harder for them to fulfil and find accessible material for, and i think this results from an initially-limited range of material suggesting the best is being picked out for america, rather than the easiest to sell being picked out. if people had been allowed to get a more sincere connection to the films that were making to america from asian countries, i think there would have been a bigger growth in interest born from a more diverse requirement from the fanbase, and that fanbase would have grown as a result. instead, we've had a simplistic range of films sold for short-term gain in order to milk what was seen as a trend for a more *here today gone tomorrow* audience that was the easiest to part from it's money. which is why asian film fans tend to be so young, but needn't be young at all.

flixtime

WAR OF THE ARROWS (2011, South Korea) aka ARROW THE ULTIMATE WEAPON - bungled cinematography during the action scenes disappoints greatly in what is otherwise a "good" period adventure effort...has a bit of an APOCALYPTO vibe to it too. In terms of pre-1900-based period efforts, it doesn't rank with other South Korean entries such as FROZEN FLOWER or THE SERVANT but I liked it more than most of the other period adventure films to come out of South Korea over the last few years. Still, repeat value will be hurt because of the poor handling of the action scenes (at least the final action scene was handled better than the others).

Some Asian films I'd recommend:
MY DEAR DESPERADO (2010, South Korea) - nothing can top POETRY for the best Korean film of 2010, but this is likely my pick for the number two spot on the list. After 2010 letdowns such as UNJUST, BEDEVILLED, I SAW THE DEVIL, and MAN FROM NOWHERE, it was a relief to come across an unexpected winner.

REVENGE: A LOVE STORY (2010, Hong Kong) - if I were God of the Cinema I'd do an exchange of titles between this and I SAW THE DEVIL, maybe then it'd get some of the attention it deserves. A top-shelf B-movie, Category III effort from Hong Kong. It's better than the production company's first effort DREAM HOME...it's better than I SAW THE DEVIL...it's better than BEDEVILLED...and because I didn't feel the cold remove I experienced with Japan's CONFESSIONS, in that sense at least I liked it better than CONFESSIONS (which of course rates well with me too). For anyone who was interested in the savagery delivered by the aforementioned films, then REVENGE: A LOVE STORY is essential viewing.

SACRIFICE (2010, China) - nice effort from director Chen Kaige...found the story riveting...the tale it is based on - ORPHAN OF ZHAO - dates from hundreds of years ago...is this really the first time it has been brought to screen...I'm surprised no one such as the Shaw Brothers took a shot at it before this.

VILLAIN (2010, Japan) - the final entry in this update on recommended movies with horribly bland titles. This also earns a solid recommendation. If you enjoyed a Japanese effort such as NOBODY TO WATCH OVER ME from a few years back then this should also satisfy.


I also enjoyed BLOOD TIES (Singapore, 2009)...wasn't too sure about it early on but it ended up winning me over...nice to see a strong role for Shaw Brothers legend Cheng Pei-pei in this film.

LET THE BULLETS FLY didn't do a whole lot for me at all. WU XIA was interesting but flawed (mostly in the opening third). PUNISHED was fine but more or less on par with other recent kidnap thrillers out of Asia. Don't recall thinking much of LOST BLADESMAN. POONGSAN from producer Kim Ki-duk was interesting.

logboy

'revenge - a love story' gets a UK release in january.

mrhan

Revenge had a good build up but the ending was sort of 'meh'. Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend it, too but the ending could have been better.

flixtime

The Front Line (2011 - South Korea) - One of a handful of Korean War films being released in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the war. This is one I was very much anticipating for two reasons. The first being that I enjoyed earlier Korean War films such as TAEGUKGI and 71 INTO THE FIRE, and the second being that I count myself a fan of director JANG Hun's two previous efforts ROUGH CUT and SECRET REUNION. This film - THE FRONT LINE - is also South Korea's submission for the upcoming Oscars. Unfortunately, I thought this movie lacking in many areas, and would grade it out as fair-to-average, and therefore measurably below TAEGUKGI and 71 INTO THE FIRE. It's the story of the fight for a hilltop taking place as the combatants hope for a truce in the hostilities. In that sense it follows in the path of something like PORK CHOP HILL, or perhaps too something like HAMBURGER HILL. At the same time, it certainly is presented with a humanistic tone of "stop the madness, can't we all just get along" in terms of North-South relations. While this is admirable, it is well-worn territory in South Korean cinema dating back (if not earlier) to one of the earliest hits of the Korean new wave - SHIRI...and certainly covered in numerous other films most notably perhaps being JOINT SECURITY AREA. In addition to that, I thought the movie disappointingly flat and uninvolving. The story itself lacked drive and focus...also the presentation of the North Korean characters and viewpoint came too late in the film (around the midpoint if not later). The characters and their interactions were underdeveloped. Also, everything had a been-there-done-that, seen-it-all-before, cliche-like feel to it...yawn. I realize that breaking new ground in a war film is difficult and while it isn't necessary to do so for me to enjoy a film, THE FRONT LINE didn't entertain in it's cookie-cutter approach...because the tale wasn't engaging it just had me thinking of similar scenes done much better in other notable war films. Also, in comparison to TAEGUKGI and 71 INTO THE FIRE, I thought THE FRONT LINE came up well short in terms of grandeur/scope/scale. Setting aside the disappointment with the writing/story/characters, the action/battle scenes judged on their own failed to register...they were too brief or underdeveloped and just didn't have the arc/scale I was looking for in a quality battle scene. Another issue I had was with the camerawork...the 1.85 framing just felt too tight/close and I really wish they had pulled back the camera and/or gone with a 2.35 aspect ratio for the film. All-in-all, a rather disappointing night's viewing for me.

Late Blossom (2011 - South Korea) - And as often seems to happen, one of my "filler" items that I dump in my DVD order to accompany something like THE FRONT LINE that I'm eager to see...well the filler items often seem to turn up the better viewing experiences. And that is certainly the case with LATE BLOSSOM. This movie is a romance concerning two senior-citizen couples (actually it centers primarily on one of the couples with the other being more a sub-story). I suppose the subject matter is a tough sell in a youth/violence/sex/technology-driven marketplace. Making matters worse is the candy-colored DVD coverart which entirely misrepresents the film itself...making it - and the characters - seem far more perky/sitcom-like than it is. Also too is that the film isn't really an arthouse effort either...it does have a commercial sensibility...point being perhaps it might get bypassed by the critical community as well. All that being said, it truly is a quality entry in the genre. While I don't think it transcends the genre enough to break out on an international level, it is undoubtedly recommended to fans of the Asian romance genre. The movie isn't entirely fresh in my mind so I can't comment in greater detail, but except maybe for a slight fumble at the end, it was a solid film with nice performances, characters you could truly care about, an emotionally involving and touching story, and strong technical values. So I will lean on the pleasant memories of LATE BLOSSOM as a counter to my current grumpiness over THE FRONT LINE.

flixtime

The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake (2011 - China/Hong Kong) - Historical biopic of QIU Jin - a Chinese poet/women's rights activist/revolutionary - with the primary focus being on her revolutionary activities. This film is also the latest effort from director Herman Yau whose previous entry was the unofficial Ip Man prequel film THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN. I actually enjoyed that movie, and actually preferred it over IP MAN 2. I'd guess that folks who enjoyed his Ip Man film would also find satisfaction with THE WOMAN KNIGHT OF MIRROR LAKE. I thought the start of the film was a little disorienting as you are dropped right in to a couple of climactic skirmishes...plus there was some brief opening text mentioning the dates 1840 and 1842 that wasn't subbed on the Hong Kong DVD. For what it's worth the story of this film takes place between 1881 and 1907. Anyway, after about the first eleven minutes, the movie flashes back to the childhood of our main character QIU Jin. For maybe the first half hour (115-minute total runtime), the film kept jumping back and forth between the climactic skirmish and its aftermath, and moments in the earlier life of the main character. I didn't care for the approach which I found off-putting and choppy. However, after a while, though the same structure continues, the film does find quite a nice rhythm in this approach and ultimately it is a rather successful choice. At the same time, looking back, I might have tweaked it slightly in that I would have opened the film a little later with the post skirmish/battle aftermath (which is a significant portion of screen time) and then started the flashbacks. I think this would have preserved a little mystery and suspense (at least for viewers not familiar with this historical character). Plus, towards the end of the film as the flashbacks keep drawing nearer to the 1907 present-day climax of the film, they do revisit the two small battle scenes they opened the film with (expanding on some events not shown in the beginning...but still giving off a slight feel of redundancy). The cutting back and forth does give the biopic a bit of a fragmentary Cliff Notes feel, but it is an effective approach in terms of giving you a solid foundation for what QIU Jin was about...though the approach also takes away from the emotional power of the movie. Still, being a Herman Yau film, I won't really hold it as a major gripe. Aside from being a biopic, the movie also functions nicely as an action film with some quality fight scenes peppered evenly throughout the runtime (probably the reason they opened with the battle scene aka in order to move some of the action up towards the front half of the movie). I thought the fights had a nice retro feel to them, and in general the film at times felt a little like a Shaw Brothers movie in terms of style. On the final scoreboard, I found THE WOMAN KNIGHT OF MIRROR LAKE to be quite a decent viewing...better-than-average and it delivered on what I had expected...so following on his Ip Man effort, director Herman Yau again does well in my book.

sleepyhead55

Finally watched Cold Fish directed by Sono. This is one weird film. It's marketed as a thriller but its a character study on the breakdown of the family structure in Japan. It reminded me of Visitor Q in that respect. Suicide Club (the other Sono film I've seen) is more accesible but I think this one is slightly better.

ckw4b

I just wanted to say thanks to you all (particularly flixtime) for the reviews and recommendations.

I started watching more Asian films lately and have found some gems from this thread.

Keep it up everyone!

flixtime

DVDTalker ckw4b, Very thoughtful of you to take the time to comment. Glad to learn my longwindedness is of some better use as opposed to it being simply time-killing reading material.

flixtime

Sector 7 (2011 - South Korea) - Ever wondered what you'd end up with if the Syfy (aside: god, what a dumb name) Channel dropped some cash in South Korea and told them to make an ALIEN rip-off...well wonder no longer folks, you now have it in SECTOR 7. Gosh, I thought the cobwebs on this sort of thing were in place twenty years ago...even the oil rig setting has been done before. If you are a monster-movie junkie, then it might offer some satisfaction, no one else need bother. SECTOR 7 most certainly isn't anywhere near THE HOST (and I don't recall being overly impressed with that movie). The story and characters are about as cliche, uninspired, and paint-by-numbers/cookie-cutter as it could possibly get...there is no depth/substance to anything in the movie. The acting was short of the usual standard in South Korean...and that includes the key role of the female lead. The first glimpse of the creature is about halfway through the movie. In terms of CGI/effects, I suppose the monster was fine in a B-movie sort of way. There is also quite a bit of CGI/effects work in some motorcycle scenes at various points, however this entire aspect was quite poor. So, yeah, if you really groove on Syfy Channel-type/B-monster movies, then by all means give SECTOR 7 a spin...expecting anything of a higher standard - which I suspect was the original aspiration of the filmmakers - will only result in thorough displeasure. I will say this, it sure was a tasty-looking monster (probably the tastiest monster I've ever seen)...looking at it had me hankering for some Chinese spareribs or maybe some Korean BBQ.

Note: I watched the 2D version.

flixtime

Quick (2011 - South Korea) - Following ALIEN-on-an-oil-rig, we now have SPEED-on-a-motorcyle. QUICK was actually rather quite decent...I'd grade it out as better-than-average...scoring good will for being fast-paced and entertaining...sort of guilty pleasure viewing. The action is plentiful and spread throughout the film. I would note that it is an action-comedy (as opposed to being a more straightforward dramatic action/suspense/thriller)...in other words you will need a tolerance for Asian comedy because the tone leans clearly towards comedy when things move away from the action. If you are okay with Jackie Chan action-comedies then you should be okay with QUICK. Speaking of Jackie Chan, QUICK does feature Chan-like end credits that show some of the stuntwork in the film...folks seemed to have gotten dinged up pretty good in executing the action scenes...gotta respect that.


Some random comments...I did watch Hindsight (2011 - South Korea) but would grade it out at only average...I was actually okay with my viewing experience as there was a lot to like but at the same time the movie never really came together or had a strong enough forward momentum. Also, it was a bit overstuffed with too many secondary characters, which again gave it a feeling of being unfocused. And in a trend that really needs to stop (because I'd gather that eighty percent of the time it is unsuccessful), HINDSIGHT does open with a scene that shows you events near the climax of the film...this decision again robbed the film of a great deal of interest and suspense and mystery.

Also watched Blind (2011 - South Korea)...again too long back to go into details, but I enjoyed it for sure...it'd grade out as par-for-the-course as far as Korean suspense/thrillers go. As is often the case in this type of movie, there were a few "why did-or-didn't, he-or-she, do-this-or-do-that" moments, but they weren't really dealbreakers.

And again too long back for detailed thoughts, but I did watch the box-office hit Sunny (2011 - South Korea). South Korea should just keep making movies called SUNNY because this entry (following on the entirely unrelated 2008 entry) was also a winner! The movie is fluff and doesn't really offer much to stick-to-your-ribs, but given what it was, I thought it was nicely done. The large female cast was solid, and it was an all-around quality effort in storytelling and directing. Actually Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn from DRIVE could learn a thing or two from a couple of the young actresses in this movie...when required these young women did a nice job in displaying "James Dean/Paul Newman/Steve McQueen-like quiet-confident-charasmatic-cool" versus what I saw in DRIVE. On a trivial note, in the aforementioned movie HINDSIGHT, there is a scene where a couple of the characters go to the movies and the movie they are watching is SUNNY (2011)...they even show a brief clip of the movie SUNNY in HINDSIGHT.

flixtime

Looks like THE YELLOW SEA got released this week here in the U.S. Seems to be DVD only...way to go Fox! The DVD seems available from the Fox website, and Amazon is indicating (overpriced) stock coming on March 4th...good luck finding it listed anywhere else. Of course it seems a fair bet the U.S. DVD will offer only the shorter International/Director's cut. Again, I guess the same will hold true for the U.K. release coming on March 26th...at least they are also getting a Blu-ray release. Gosh, I really dislike when U.S. studios start poking their fingers into foreign films. As a fan of Korean cinema, I would thoroughly hate it if South Korean home video releases start becoming less English-friendly (as was the case with their release of THE YELLOW SEA...two separate releases but neither had English subtitles).

flixtime

The Beast (2011 - South Korea) - I don't see a listing for this yet at IMDb. A low-budget, indie attempt at slipstreaming the likes of TAKEN and MAN FROM NOWHERE. It is only a fair movie (aka below-average)...underwritten or perhaps - at only ninety minutes - still overlong. Of interest to completist-types, but otherwise I don't anticipate it being of much interest to anyone else. The story is basic...sister gets taken by bad-guy types, badass brother goes after her. Being an indie effort, it doesn't offer the production/technical values many might associate with South Korean cinema (although there does appear to be a significant growth in independent cinema in South Korea recently). It takes about a third of the runtime before any action starts. The fights/beatdowns are just okay, standard fare...too much editing for my liking and they get repetitive...hero beats up bad guy or maybe two bad guys and proceeds onwards. None of the bad guys really seemed formidable enough to offer any suspense to the proceedings. They saddle the hero with a couple of helpers along the way...one of course being female. The movie in general required a more furious pace, instead the pacing was just sort of very even and lacking in energy. There really wasn't much of interest in the writing in general, and it never got close to reaching me on any emotional level. Still, for the indie effort it was, maybe less griping and more charity should be my marching orders.

Pained (2011 - South Korea) - Another entry in the romantic melodrama sub-genre of "hoodlum-with-heart-of-gold meets loner-type female"...a sub-genre I rather enjoy. To add an extra layer of interest, things get a little gimmicky in making the guy someone who suffers from "analgesia" aka he doesn't feel pain, while the girl is a hemophiliac...yeah, you can roll your eyes...but you know the gimmick actual works very well. So you know what you get in this type of movie...some laughs, some action, some romance, some tears. I'd grade it out as par-for-the-course...note, you know, I keep using this golf analogy but I pretty much can't stand the game. Anyway, where was I, so, yeah, I enjoyed the movie. The two leads shared nice chemistry which is a key for this type of movie, and the female lead especially turned in a really quality performance (I continue to be impressed by South Korean actresses...except for SECTOR 7 which I mentioned earlier). I won't grade it out higher because near perfection in the sub-genre was reached only last year with MY DEAR DESPERADO, and while PAINED was a far more consistent and evenly entertaining effort versus something like the indie BREATHLESS from a few years back, PAINED at the same time didn't hit the highs offered by BREATHLESS...in the sense that the emotional connection to the characters in PAINED wasn't as strong.



An odd food craving just hit me (entirely unrelated to anything in the two movies above)...I could really go for a fresh sesame seed bagel with both a nice schmear of cream cheese and BBQ potato chips sandwiched in between.

flixtime

So as not to hold anyone in suspense, I did get my nosh on with a quick trip to the bagel shop early Sunday morning.


Tears (2009 - Taiwan) - Solid character study concerning a weary, dinosaur-type cop at the twilight of his career...actor Tsai Chen-nan turns in a quality performance in the lead role. This is lower-budget, non-flashy, somewhat indie/arthouse/naturalistic in style. The story runs on two tracks, one being time spent with our lead cop in showing his somewhat solitary existence away from work, though he does seem to find respite in regular visits to a couple of "betel nut beauties"...those who have seen HELP ME EROS might be familiar with the term (if not, just google it). The other portion of the film follows our lead as he works the case of a recently deceased young woman. TEARS is slower-paced, character-driven, and on the surface rather relaxed as it appears not much is really going on, but again this is more a character study...it isn't a more traditional crime film that might be centered on action or criminal mystery or plot machinations, but instead it slowly comes into focus as a mystery of character as it becomes apparent that the entire tale is a meticulous peeling back of layers with regard to our main character. Though it is undeniably slow-moving, it was interesting throughout, and ultimately a very poignant experience once the journey reaches its conclusion.

Note: the Hong Kong DVD is a non-anamorphic presentation...and the Taiwanese DVD appears to have been the same.

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Always (2011 - South Korea) - Following on my viewing of PAINED, ALWAYS puts us back in close vicinity to the romantic melodrama sub-genre of "bad boy with a heart-of-gold meets lonely young woman". Director SONG Il-gon returns after a lengthy time away from feature filmmaking. Director Song might best be known in the international arena for his film SPIDER FOREST; I am particularly fond of his romance GIT aka FEATHER IN THE WIND. This latest entry is something different though and sees the director working in the arena of high-profile, big-budget, high-gloss, mass-market Korean cinema. That being said, ALWAYS was satisfying enough but still only average (for the most part). It just felt a little off as compared to other similar entries. It struggled to really pull me in and simply felt too commercial, too manufactured, too paint-by-numbers...too much like a superficial, engineered product, and with too little heart and soul. At times too, it felt like the 105-minute runtime got tightened up a bit too much and maybe that there was another five minutes of material somewhere that got trimmed away but maybe shouldn't have been. As a romantic melodrama it hit all the right beats but somehow just wasn't making music (for the most part). And now comes my reason for saying "for the most part"...because when it comes to maybe the final fifteen minutes, ALWAYS fires on all cylinders as it takes you on a ride that plays seesaw with your emotions...it is a strong climax, impressive enough that I'd kick my final grade up a bit despite the unremarkable ninety minutes that came before.

Mother Is A Whore (2009 - South Korea) - Downbeat Korean indie that didn't register nearly as well with me as it seems to have with others. I just didn't connect to any of the characters and thus it felt slow, overlong, and too near boring...an overindulgence in misery and unpleasantness with characters and story that didn't matter to me. It finishes well enough I suppose, but I can't rank it any better than "fair" which is my grade scale below a score of "average".

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Mr. Idol (2011 - South Korea) - THAT THING YOU DO! this movie is not (note, I don't see an IMDb listing for this as of yet). It's the story of a female manager and her formation of a Korean male pop idol group. I know this pop idol group thing is huge in Japan and Korea, though I know nothing about any of the groups or music...though I will admit to a fantasy or two with regard to those leggy Girls' Generation chicks. Umm, so anyway, MR. IDOL...this movie just did not work at all...I'd grade it out at fair-to-average. Early on it actually reminded me of the underdog sports skiing movie from a few years ago - TAKE OFF (which I don't know if I ever mentioned here...but it was a solid entry in that genre). Even one of the subplots about one of the members searching for the mother who gave him up for adoption was also a subplot in TAKE OFF. But MR. IDOL was just an entirely limp and unengaging experience throughout. A big criticism of the movie was the characterization of a key role - the female manager. It was just such a strange character and totally ill fit to this type of movie. The character comes off as some sort of oddball, quirky, glum, ice princess...just a total failure...you certainly never believe that she can succeed in the entertainment industry. She does have an assistant manager (the guy who starred in DACHIMAWA LEE), and they should've just composited whatever function she had and just gone with the assistant manager as the main character. The movie also fails to generate much character development with regard to three of the four group members. The failed characters are a main reason for the movie failing to pull you in and sweep you away as a viewer. Another major negative is that there wasn't enough singing and dancing for a movie about a pop group...and the one main song they keep repeating over and over again isn't any good, so there isn't much pleasure in the music aspect of things (actually a song/video thing they do as the closing credits was a much better song than the main one). So you can easily bypass MR. IDOL (not that I'd bet on much interest here for a movie about a male boy band in the first place). P.S. - what I would recommend is a google image search on GIRLS' GENERATION if you aren't familiar with them...I'm rather partial to the group picture of them where there are all in the short black skirts.

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Countdown (2011 - South Korea) - By all outward appearances this is another entry for action/suspense/thriller fans, in actuality it is something different. The first half-plus is a plot and detail heavy film of the type you would be expecting, at the same time it is simply okay and just too involved such that the pace actually feels slow despite numerous goings-on as a number of different characters/groups are introduced all chasing after one thing or another. Into the second half things mellow and conversely the pace seems to move along a little better as the story comes more into focus. At which time it becomes clear that most of what you witnessed is irrelevant and simply window dressing which unfortunately acts as an overwhelming camouflage on what the movie is about. It is more a character portrait of two neglectful individuals and their road to either damnation or salvation. As such, in the end, it is reasonably affecting especially with regard to one of the characters. Unfortunately, all the suspense/thriller/chase/action elements mislead you as a viewer for far too long for the film to more effective in its goal. Maybe like opening a pizza box to find a donut inside, or a bakery box to find a slice of pizza inside...either one would be fine by itself, but maybe not so much so when you were expecting something else. Likewise here, the package is clearly a suspense/thriller but it isn't at all what the movie is about...and what the movie is about just comes far too late in the proceedings. On the final scoreboard COUNTDOWN is only fair as a suspense/thriller and should be skipped if that is what you are interested in. As a character study, it might grade out slightly better, yet at the same time it is robbed of any significance because of the misdirected focus of far too much time as a pointless thriller...though the character portrait aspect might deserve some small attention because of some commonality it might have with some of the more acclaimed issue-oriented films coming out of South Korea.